Promise: Sakura's path converges with Itachi's once more, and she must realize what it really is that she fears most. Sequel to Claustrophobia.

The final part of the story! I'm so glad to hear that you have enjoyed it thus far!

I do not own any rights to Naruto.

Sakura was vaguely aware that the lower half of her body was almost completely numb.

It was hardly surprising, seeing as she had been relegated to the chair behind her desk for the past three hours straight, but it did nothing to help the painful pins and needles sensation that shot up and down her legs every time she shifted. While Sakura understood the need for diligence when it came to paperwork in a hospital, she silently cursed her own mentor for being so lazy when it came to doing her own office work.

Of course, she should have been suspicious when Tsunade approached her earlier in the evening, offering to lighten her workload. As soon as words of shocked gratitude slipped past her lips, a stack of papers that reached well over her head were dumped into her arms and the esteemed Hokage had fled into the nearest exam room before she could face the indignity of being chewed out by her own student.

A soft hiss escaped Sakura's lips as she stretched her legs under her desk, flexing her calves and trying to regain normal blood flow. Glancing at her clock, she nearly groaned aloud when she noted she was nowhere near the end of her shift. Could this night get any worse?

As a knock sounded at her door, Sakura came to the realization that that was a dangerous thought to voice in a quiet hospital.

"Come in," she ordered, her attention barely straying from the patient file that she was currently working on. Shinobi. 23. Injuries caused by close proximity to an exploding tag. First and second degree burns covering twenty percent of extremities. Next day discharge. Signing her approval, she reached for a new report at the same time her right hand strayed down to her calf to give it a light massage.

The door to her office was opened with restrained panic, a familiar sound in the emergency ward. A frazzled nurse called from the doorway, "Sakura-sama?"

"Hokage-sama has graciously decided to take over my floor duty tonight, Mai," she informed the poor underling with a bite that was not intended for her. "Updated patient statuses should be reported directly to her."

Believing that to be the end of their discussion, Sakura flipped open the next folder and reexamined all of the necessary information. Shinobi. 32. Probably Kakashi. Strained hamstring. Torn rotator cuff. Minor abrasions caused by shurikan. Patient dismissed himself from the hospital after an hour. Definitely Kakashi. Great. Now she was going to have to scold both of her teachers. Why did she always have to be the adult?

"S-Sakura-sama, the Hokage has already been informed of the situation. She has requested your immediate aid."

That got Sakura's attention. "You should have started with that," she berated as she shot up from her seat and stalked to the door as quickly as she could with her aching legs. Snagging her white coat from the hook next to the door, she finally gave the nurse her full attention. "What's the situation?"

Only now did she see the panic that lined Mai's entire expression, the pallor of her skin and the way her curly hair was tossed haphazardly over her scalp only galvanized Sakura. Mai pointed shakily in the direction of the emergency ward and then hustled to keep up with her long, even strides.

"It's an ANBU team, Sakura-sama, just brought in. They were found at the border. Tsunade-sama and Shizune are seeing to two members of the team but are low on chakra from working the previous shift. They've requested you take the captain, who is in the most critical condition."

An unwarranted fear suddenly gripped Sakura's veins, turning her blood cold before she even knew why, but a niggling suspicion was rooting itself in the back of her head. Impossibly, her steps hastened even further down the corridor. She fought to keep her voice in the cool and collected "medic-mode" that she reserved for situations such as this. "Which operating theater?"

"Four, but – Sakura-sama!"

But Sakura was already running, bolting with shinobi speed they were almost never allowed to use in the hospital, for fear of upsetting trays of life-saving medications or jostling healing patients. Her heart beat harder and harder with every step, urging her forward, though she hardly knew what emergency awaited her.

Bursting through the doors of the OR, she automatically gave way to procedure as she lifted her arms, allowing a nurse to smock her while another disinfected her hands as best as he could. Once she was suitably prepared, she practically pushed them aside to get to her patient.

Finally, the vague suspicion was replaced by almost certain panic. Even if she didn't recognize the smooth, pale skin, the trademark raven hair, or his muscled, long-limbed physique, his face was not yet hidden under a menagerie of tubes that would help save his life.

Clamping down on the gut-wrenching fear that threatened to freeze her muscles in place, she took note of his vitals on a display screen nearby and hastily commanded the head nurse at her side, "Report."

Unlike Mai, the nurses in the operating room were not at all flustered by her hard tone. As he directed the organization of equipment around their patient, he also systematically listed off a litany of injuries that would have turned any shinobi's stomach. "Severe trauma likely accumulated from several opponents. Four broken ribs. Abrasions found at both arms and the head. Likely has a concussion. Stress fractures on both tibias from running. Sword wound crossing the abdomen–"

A frenzied beeping halted his speech and made both of their heads shoot up to face a neighboring monitor. He had already lost too much blood. His blood pressure was bottoming out.

Cursing under her breath, Sakura summoned chakra to her fingertips and laid them firmly on the torso that had been stripped of his uniform to reveal the horrid aftermath of his battle.

"We can't do anything if he bleeds out on my table," she shouted to another orderly across the room. "Blood transfusions. Type O positive. Now!" Sakura turned back to the head nurse at her side. "Get started on the seals. He's not going to survive with anything less."

His eyes widened only slightly as he nodded and turned to follow her instructions without pause. Satisfied that he was doing exactly as she directed, she returned her attention to the patient she would do anything to save.

"Come on, Itachi," she whispered as she funneled more and more chakra into her limbs. Gritting her teeth against the oncoming burn, she swore to him softly, "You're not dying on me tonight."

He almost did. His blood pressure bottomed out two more times and, at one especially harrowing moment, his heart decided to stop beating altogether. It took a jutsu refined from Kakashi's chidori to get it pumping again. However, after a nerve-wracking and grueling seven hours of surgery, he was finally pronounced stable and moved to his own room in ICU.

Sakura could barely keep her eyes open as she peeled off layers of blood-soaked medical garments and threw them immediately into the trash. Shuffling over to the sink, she turned the water as cold as it would go and worked to wash away the evidence of her struggle, wrinkling her nose as she observed the blood that was stuck under her nails. She couldn't help but heave a great sigh. Work in the hospital was certainly anything but glamorous.

Aware that standing zoned out in the operating theater would only hinder the clean-up team, Sakura decided it was time to go. Bone-tired, she dried her hands and pushed the swinging doors with all that was left of her energy. As she did, her vision swam slightly, forcing her to rest her back against the wall and give herself a moment.

She was so exhausted, in fact, that she missed the presence of her own teammate until he laid a firm, but gentle hand, on her shoulder.

Somewhat startled, she blearily blinked up at his pinched features. Anyone else would think that he had somehow managed to remain as stoic as ever, despite the fact that his brother had been knocking on death's door not two hours ago, but she knew Sasuke better than almost anyone in the world. It was the subtle cues that let her know that Sasuke was as panicked as she had been, the drawn eyebrows, the lines at the corners of his lips, the grip on her shoulder.

Even his voice, low and even to anyone else, held a note that sounded off to her trained ear. "How is he?"

She lifted her hand to the one at her shoulder and gently tugged it off. Even if there had been no real force behind it, his touch was too much pressure on her aching bones. Giving his fingers light squeeze, she smiled as reassuringly as she could up at him. "He's going to be just fine Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke shut his eyes; Sakura could see the relief flowing through him in the way his shoulders settled slightly and the slight tremble in the hand that she still held. He was never one to openly admit his love and affection for someone, something Sakura had learned the hard way over the years, but it was moments like this that reminded her that Sasuke still had the same depth of emotion as everyone else.

Caught up in attending to her worried teammate, she was startled by the appearance of two more Uchiha black eyes from behind his broad frame.

"Sakura-chan," greeted the Uchiha matriarch, more anxious than Sakura had ever seen her before, "Can we seen him? Do you know how he is? Is he all right?"

Sakura had seen hundreds of mothers in such a state for their children in her career, and, though she was barely fit to lift her own head, she pulled away from the wall holding her up and stepped around Sasuke to hold Mikoto's hands in her own, a universal sign of comfort between women everywhere. She certainly needed the reassurance more than Sakura did.

Pitching her voice as softly and warmly as she could manage, Sakura explained, "I oversaw his surgery myself, Mikoto-san. He pulled through just fine, but we're giving him his own room ICU at least overnight to keep an eye on him. He's still asleep now, but he should be awake by midday at the earliest. You'll be allowed to see him then."

A shaky sigh of relief escaped Mikoto's mouth as she crossed the space between them to throw her arms around Sakura in a grateful hug. Sakura tried not to think about how much she was leaning on the other woman and focused on holding her until her quaking calmed.

Mikoto's already quiet voice was barely a whisper over her shoulder. "I know the surgery must have been long enough already, but will you stay with him Sakura-chan? Keep an eye on him? I don't trust anyone else but you."

Mentally, Sakura heaved a great, big sigh. All she wanted was a mattress and a protein bar, but her compassionate nature definitely wouldn't allow it of her now that Mikoto had voiced such a request.

Once again, Sasuke laid a hand on her shoulder. She saw that his features were once more pinched the slightest bit; this time, not for his brother, but rather for her sake.

"Haha-ue, Sakura needs–"

"To get back to her patient," she quickly interrupted, pulling away from Mikoto's embrace to assuage her with a sunny smile. "I still have some time before the end of my shift, anyway. I'll bring my work to his room and make sure he doesn't go anywhere," she finished with a wink.

This seemed to satisfy the rest of Mikoto's worries. While proceeding to thank her a thousand times over, she retrieved her purse from the waiting room and looped her arm through Sasuke's.

"Come, Sasuke, your father will be waiting to hear about Itachi," she bid him gently. "We shouldn't keep him waiting."

Sasuke spared a moment or two more to stare down his teammate, informing her plainly, without words, what he thought about her long hours. She stared right back, hardly effected by his stern look. As hard as he worked as a member of Team 7, he would never understand the commitment she had for her second job.

"I forget sometimes, that being a ninja is only one of your careers, Sakura-san. Your responsibilities do not end on the training grounds or on missions as many others' do."

Emboldened by the memory of the words Itachi had shared with her, she waved the two Uchihas off with a friendly, "See you later," and strode back to her office to retrieve a few of the files that were patiently waiting for her attention. Extricating a good-sized portion of the never-ending pile, she locked the door to her office and made her way back to ICU, where a few minutes of searching and friendly questions landed her at the right door.

Darkness greeted her when she opened the door to his room. She flipped the light switch on without hesitation, knowing the drugs they kept him sedated with wouldn't allow him to wake for hours. Scanning the room, she snagged an empty chair and dragged it towards him, dropping the files on his bedside table and taking a moment to sink into the comfortable seat and finally breathe.

Sakura could already feel the familiar burn at the balls and heels of her feet from standing for so long. While she was in her element in the operating room, it was easy to forget, but seven hours of standing in one place and funneling her chakra always caught up with her eventually.

The trivial pain reminded her of her patient. Easing her gaze towards him, she took in his condition with a critical eye, examining his monitors and his general appearance. He was stable, and his heart was beating strongly again. The breathing tube had been taken out once they were sure he was able to do so on his own, and some of the color had finally returned to his cheeks.

She frowned, though, when she saw the expression on his face. Even unconscious, the space between his eyebrows was creased, and his mouth was turned down at the corners. He was still in pain.

Without pause, she reached out to the hand not covered by thin hospital blankets and held it between her own. Fishing out the final dregs of her chakra, she slowly began to numb the more traumatic injuries he had received, keeping an eye on his face as she did so.

Gradually, it began to ease, and it heartened Sakura to know she was able to bring him some measure of comfort. She distantly noticed that the blue glow around her hands was fading without her permission and sighed. She had used up all of her chakra. Again. Tsunade was going to kill her if she found out.

But, if she could just catch a few hours of sleep, she thought as her head began to fall of its own accord, then maybe she could regain some chakra before her mentor even found out.

Her cheek was already resting on her arm as she finished the thought, and she closed her eyes without even realizing that she was still holding Itachi's hand in her own.

The pounding at her temples struck her before she was even able to open her eyes. Chakra exhaustion felt almost exactly like the worst hangover in the world, multiplied one hundred times over. A groan escaped her mouth as she ducked her head further into the crook of her arm, trying to avoid the light at the corners of her gaze. Each beam felt like a thousand needles were being inserted in her pupils.

She relaxed once more under the comforting sensation of fingers running through her hair. The feel of callused fingertips and fingernails lightly scratching her scalp made her forget about her migraine. With each stroke, she felt rejuvenated to the point where she was finally able to open her eyes.

Jade met black, and, for a series of moments, Sakura felt only peace under his half-lidded gaze.

Then, of course, she remembered where she was and shot up to a sitting position, only to immediately regret it as the pounding returned in full force. She lifted a single hand to rub her forehead, hoping to alleviate some of her pain. Slowly, she began to realize she must have fallen asleep at his bedside and a sense of mortified shock swept over her.

"I apologize, Itachi-san," she croaked, her voice still hoarse from sleep. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Even injured and after hours of unconsciousness, his voice was deep and even. "Then you must have truly needed it."

Despite herself, Sakura chuckled lightly, "Well, you're not wrong." Lowering her hand to her lap she met his gaze once more and distracted herself from the warm look in his eyes by focusing on her job. "How are you feeling?"

He frowned then, obviously also remembering how they had found themselves here in the first place. "Better than I should be feeling." He seemed to turn his gaze inward for a moment, and Sakura could almost see the way he was cataloguing all of his injuries and taking stock of his situation. "I assume from your chakra levels that you oversaw my surgery?"

She felt her eyes narrow. His comment was less of a question and more of a quiet reprimand, undoubtedly for the state she was currently in. After all of the moments they had shared with one another and all of the encouraging words he had gifted her, such a thing felt like a bucket of cold water poured over her head.

"Yes, I oversaw your surgery, Itachi-san." Regardless of her currently physical state, her medic voice had been automatically triggered by his own tone. "The state of my chakra levels is only proof of how dire your condition was," she noted, reminding him who really needed to take better care of themselves here. "I merely did my best to keep you alive."

His gaze was warm when it met hers once more and his expression had softened a touch, making butterflies she most certainly did not need flutter in her stomach.

"And this?"

A slight pressure at the hand not in her lap made her jump in surprise. Looking down at the bed she, too, had been laying on, she was shocked to find that his hand was still enfolded by her smaller one. Vaguely, she recalled using numbing chakra to ease his pain, but how had she managed to keep a hold on it while she was sleeping?

Beyond embarrassed, she instantly attempted to release him from her hold, but he merely shifted his grip so that her fingers were now tangled with his. Flustered and a little confused by the affectionate gesture, Sakura turned to face him once more only to find his expression had not changed.

Clearing her throat, she did her best to maintain a professional distance until she could figure out just what to do with him. "You were in pain. I was just doing my job."

His gaze flickered over her shoulder towards the window. She risked a glance backwards to see just what he was looking at. As soon as she realized it was the clock hanging on the wall that had snagged his attention, he tugged at their joined hands. When she turned back around she was startled to find he had used his grip to tug her closer to his reclined form.

"Hospital personnel maintain shifts of six hours," he explained slowly, his eyes tracing her face, searching for something. "Though double shifts are allowed, triple shifts are only to be permitted in emergency circumstances, and quadruple shifts are expressly forbidden, especially for active surgeons."

Now she was getting well and truly annoyed with him. "Don't quote my own rules at me, Itachi-san," she seethed. The grip she had on his hand must have bordered painful, but, when she tried breaking free of his hold he simply refused to let go. "If you must know, your mother asked me to stay with you."

He hummed noncommittally and Sakura got the sense that he didn't believe her, which only made her more offended.

"Fine," she snapped, standing from her chair and doing her best not to flinch at the spike of pain from the sore muscles in her legs, "believe what you want. I have other patients to attend to. Tell your mother I said hello when she gets here later." She made one last ditch effort to get him to relinquish her hand, but for someone who was so injured, he was still freakishly strong. "Now, if you'll excuse m–"

Rather than let her go politely as she expected, Sakura was suddenly pitched towards him from his hold on her hand. Losing her balance, she barely managed to avoid landing right on his injured torso. The stern scolding she had ready for him on the tip of her tongue slipped from her mind as she felt the fingers of his other hand thread through the hair at the back of her head, establishing a firm grip that he used to pull her head down.

The first brush of his lips was softer than a butterfly's wing, but it froze every muscle in Sakura's body and all feeling was suddenly centered at her mouth. Itachi's dark gaze examined her features closely, taking a moment to gauge her shocked reaction before slowly bringing her closer to him once more, giving her plenty of time to move away if she so desired.

But she didn't. Caught in the sheer magnetism of his gaze, Sakura wondered if even his onyx eyes had hypnotizing properties. Her heart beat funnily in her ears as he took possession of her mouth once more, this time cajoling with lips and teeth and tongue in such a way that her fingers curled in the sheets at either side of his head.

Though she was the one hanging over his prone frame, there could be no doubt as to who was dominating their kiss. For Sakura, someone who prided herself for her monstrous strength and the sheer force of her personality, relinquishing control was a new concept, but, as he used his hold on the back of her neck to change the angle of the kiss, a surprised gasp escaped her mouth and she found she didn't exactly mind not being in charge for once.

An eternity later, his grip softened until he released her neck, allowing her to regain some space and to catch her breath. Tucking her hair behind her ear, he settled for tracing the pad of his thumb against the smooth skin of her cheek. She was gratified by the fact that he was breathing just as hard as she was. Without conscious thought, she found herself closing her eyes, resting her forehead against his and breathing a truth she'd never thought she admit to him.

"I almost lost you."

The soft brush of his nose against hers was soothing, and the fingers stroking her face eased the rest of the tension from her limbs.

"I apologize."

The ridiculousness of the words brought forth a sudden gasping laugh from her. Pulling back the slightest bit to meet his gaze, she the confusion that was clearly evident on his face. "You can hardly apologize for getting injured. You don't have control over everything, you know."

The corner of his lips tilted in a smile that stole her breath away. "I apologize for frightening you once more. I believe I promised not to."

It took Sakura a moment of recollection to remember what on earth he was referring to, but then she recalled the oath she had forced out of him on the training grounds after he had spooked her for the second time. Laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, she reminded him, "Startled, remember? You didn't frighten me."

"Hmm." Thought the low hum was a decidedly equivocal response, the way his fingers traveled down her neck to stroke her collarbones was decidedly not. She let him guide her head once more until his lips brushed the shell of her ear with every word he spoke.

"I can promise not to frighten you," he murmured, his breath doing funny things to her pulse. She could feel the way his lips curled against her cheek at her quiet, breathy gasp. "But startling is simply too tempting to resist."

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